us into the longest recession we have ever seen. thanks for joining the conversation here on sunday. hello, everyone. thank you for joining us. former u.s. senator arlen specter has lost his long battle with cancer. the lawmaker died today at his home in philadelphia. he was 82 years old. specter served 30 years in the cincinna senate, that's longer than any other senator in the state of pennsylvania.

president obama said arlen specter was always a fighter, from his days stamping out corruption as a prosecutor to his three decades of service in the senate. arlen was fiercely independent never putting party or ideology ahead of the people he was chosen to serve. one of those who knew arlen specter well and covered him on capitol hill, cnn chief political correspondent candy crowley. he was also known as snarling arlen. >> he believed what he believed. he could be cranky, he didn't mush li much like -- he didn't suffer fools. he was a very smart guy. the history that he covered in his career, not just the senate, i think he was there for like 30 years, but the history, he's on the warren commission, he was one of the attorneys for the

warren commission who looked into the jfk assassination, just the time he spent, all the supreme court nominees, he loved the laws, he was on the judiciary committee, he played such a pivotal role in selecting some of the supreme court justices who sit on that bench or approving them. he really got battered about in the end by politics. he started out a registered democrat but ran as a republican, got elected to the senate as a republican and at the end of his career when he was getting ready to run for re-election in the 2010 race, or close to it, he switched parties and became a democrat because he felt that the republican party left him. he was a moderate from pennsylvania and was about to get a huge challenge from the conservative side and thought he might lose that.

he switched to the democratic party, but in the end he lost the democratic primary and that was the end, certainly of his public career. just a fascinating, smart guy, who contributed so much to history and lived so much of it. >> that was candy crowley, helping to remember arlen speck specter. mission accomplished for sky live felix baumgartner. he landed on his feet after a familiar from 23 -- he broke three records, one for the fa fastest free fall on record. and one for the highest manned balloon. >> how is fee lex baumgartner doing? he saw him land on his feet, but how's he feeling memory and emotionally. >> he's going to hold a press

conference, he is speaking to the media that is gathered out there in roswell, new mexico very shortly, if he's not doing it already. so he's well enough to talk and we have been trying to correspond with some of the red bull people to ask what his condition is, from all visual signs right now, he's doing very well. you saw him land and raise his fist to the air, the piece of video that we're seeing, the hop into history and the incredible rate of speed was just compelling. he landed about an hour and 45 minutes ago. he did break the speed of sound, that mark, 690 miles an hour, how fast he actually went, red bull is saying he went about 704 miles an hour. but we did see on the monitors during his job that he hit got 729 miles an hour. so we'll get an official reading of exactly how fast he went.

but a real thrill as he jumped from higher than anyone has ever jumped, 128,000 feet. that's about 8,000 feet higher than they expected him to jump. >> and why was balm baumgartner committed to this jump. >> he is a daredevil, he base jumped off the towers, and base jumped off the chrysler statue in reno. but nothing ever to this magnitude. what they want to accomplish here is the scientific advancements to see if this could be the next generation of space suit. so that's one of the key goals of the mission. that jump was a heart pounding moment for everyone who saw it happen live here on cnn.

chad myers joins me on the set as well. along with brian todd from washington. this is more than that kind of daredevil moment, brian todd, underscore it, it is a moment for science as well? >> it isn't evel knievel getting on a motorcycle and jumping three busses. this is not that kind of thrill. this has to do with space tourism. we know in the next 10 to 20 years there will be vehicles that will take people into space and then land back down. if something goes wrong in that space tourism plane, can those people literally eject? can they make it back to earth with a parachute. nobody's ever gone 700 miles per hour in a free fall and lived to

tell it. then when he did finally jump, it was like watching a camera on a roller coaster. when he jumped, i felt that. and then you would expect, oh, well, the ground is right there. the parachute is going to come. no, he felt for four minutes and 19 seconds before the chute opened and then he landed on the plains of eastern new mexico. >> you can't really simplify this because there was a moment that he was spinning seemingly out of control, and because of his sky diving skills, he was able to have the wherewithal to redirect his body so he could be in position to pull that chute. >> he was in a dangerous spin. he was getting there. there was a little drag chute that would have slowed that spin down had it gotten to 3.5 gs. he was able to use his hands and his feet and his body to stop the spin, slow himself from the

spin all the way back down to the right attitude as he's falling through space again and continued to do the free fall. he had to pull the election parachute too early that would have ruined some of his fun. >> it was really incredible, riveting from start to finish. chad myers thank you for joining us this afternoon for that one as well. we're going to get more perspective on felix baumgartner's jump from a former astronaut in just a few minutes. and the shuttle endeavor is a block away from it's final destination of the california science center in los angeles. the shuttle was supposed to arrive last night, but the trip took a little longer than expected. dozens of trees had to be cut along that route to accommodate the 78-foot wide shut, you heard

about that over the past few weeks or so. and in the course of the last 24 hours, they had to do some trimming along the way. but it was still a very tight fit. and so that shuttle soon to be in its final destination spot right there in los angeles. president barack obama spending a second straight day in williamsberg, virginia preparing for his next debate with mitt romney. that show you were happens tuesday night, today one of obama's top advisors told cnn the president was disappointed his performance in the first debate and knows he has to be more energetic this tuesday. mitt romney is also hunkering down preparing for the debate. senator rob portman of ohio has been in kind of a mock role as president obama in those debate sessions. the presidential contenders will square off for the second

time tuesday night, our special coverage life at 7:00 eastern time. what can we expect in this next showdown? we have got a full preview from our moderate fors. a fire works show in china goes terribly wrong. we'll tell you what happened. i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one.

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influence the tone of the debate with the audience asking some of the questions. >> i think it will in this way, it is very hard to be overheated when answering a question be a nice woman, a nice old man, whatever who asks a town hall question. which generally begins something like, you know, mr. president, or governor, i lost my job, blah, blah, blah, to then have the two of them engage in a knock down dragout, tends to be something they don't do in a crowd that that's close to them. but you know they would run over me in a second. they would really sort of push the envelope with a member of the media, because they're used to us, but it is very hard to do that to an uncommitted voter. >> in the meantime, some cnn colleagues couldn't help themselves but to give you some advice for this debate, let's

listen. >> i have noticed in these debates when the candidates are asked a certain question about a certain topic, they sometimes stray off of it. >> really hold the candidates feet to the fire. >> what is the best thing you can say about the opposition party. >> what's been the happiest moment of your life? >> i'm sure a lot of folks have tried to give you advice, not that you need any. but it sounds like folks are saying to have a sense of humor about it all too. >> that and you want to get to know a little bit, you want the kind of offbeat question that exposes some about the candidate that others might not know, that is at the same time relevant to who you might want in a president, that sort of reveals something about their character. but what i don't lack, as you may note from suggestions, the sad thing is, 90 minutes is not as long as you think it is. if you could see my inbox, i

would tell you that people have questions about so many things and in the end, it has to be questions about things where, a, they have a difference of opinion and b, where we have a chance of kind of opening up new territory. >> candy crowley moderating the next presidential debate town hall style that is this tuesday out of hempstead new york at hof from university, our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. a fire works show goes wrong in china. you can watch cnn from your mobile phone and you can also watch it from your computer anywhere you go. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role

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two navy vessels collided yesterday afternoon. the sub's nuclear reactor was not affected.

>> in syria, 202 people are dead when the fighting of government forces gets worse. a landmark -- activists say regime forces took over the religious building, set it on fire and then ran away, aleppo is a world land mark site. and for a second, it looks cool, but this is tragedy at work here, a fire works show in china went terribly wrong and all of it was caught on video. chinese television reports that at least 100 people were injured when the fire works fell into the crowd. many people suffered burns, the incident is now under investigation. >> sky diver felix baumgartner

makes history with a record jump from outer space. we'll have more on the significance of this accomplishment. with tums smoothies. so fast and smooth, you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums [ male announcer ] tums smoothies. [ male announcer ] how do you turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it.

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has died from nonhodgkin's li lympho lymphoma. he was 82 years old. mission accomplished for sky diver felix baumgartner after he landed on his feet from an unbelievable free fall from 23 miles over earth. he only had a space suit, helmet the other for the highest free fall and one for the highest manned balloon. earlier i spoke with former astronaut leroy chow about the greatest accomplishment and legacy for felix baumgartner's jump. it was conceived over many years

and planneded or many years. it finally got to the point where they were going to try for the record and they broke three of them. congratulations to the team and it's going to be the technology that they have developed, the things they have drink, you're going to see these incorporated. >> let's talk about that high pressure suit and why and what makes this one so significant or, you know, a step above or a few steps above what nasa has been using for a long time now? >> well, sure, the suits that nasa used aboard shuttle and the suits used aboard the soyuz right now, they're beautiful the same design that have existed for quite a long time, decades actually. this suit here appears to be a pretty new adaptation. you've taken the lessons learned from the previous suits.

this might be a little bit better suit. certainly the way they're able to collect data and record and send it down, those were big advances. i think this is going to dry the technology of newer suits into future space flights. >> baumgartner's jump breaks the record of the jump in the 1960s. he felt more than 100,000 feet. another big space related event happening right now. the shuttle endeavor arriving from its new home. the shuttle was supposed to arrive last night, but the trip took a little longer than expected. some trees had to be cut down along the grut before it actually made its way into los angeles for that two-day, 12

mile trek and a few tree trimming operations had to be done, too. california, hundreds of friends and neighbors came together to celebrate the life of former navy s.e.a.l. general dougherty. one of his friends spoke about the man fondly known as giba. >> if everybody was asked who was their best friend, he would raise their hand. . you've heard a lot of talk from president barack obama and mitt romney in this campaign season, maybe it's time for them to tell us a joke or two? reader's digest sat down with the candidates. find out what the presidential candidates said. e the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision

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just 23 days until election day, but before that the candidates have to face off twice more on a debate stage, the next one this tuesday night. president obama and former governor mitt romney will face off for 90 minutes. the vp debate may have upstaged the last presidential debate just a bit. but romney still goes into the second debate with a sizable momentum. is the pressure on particularly for the president to kind of change his cool style and be a

bit more combative if not energetic? >> the first race has changed the race in one very important way. this was a thin slice of voters that were somewhat satisfied with his performance but did not view romney has a viable alternative. and that changed for folks that are not that satisfied with obama see romney as a purchase more reasonable choice than obama. secondly, to give people more of a sense of what they will get from him in a second term, if they give him four more years which has been pretty lacking so far in this presentation. >> both men talked about taxes in particular, they were pressed on taxes in particular during

that first debate and we lost saw that during the romney debate, as far as the romney debate, the republicans in particular were pressed on this very issue. >> i'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. no economist will say mitt romney's tax plan adds $5 trillion if i say i will not add to the deficit with this tax plan. >> what we're saying is lower tax rates 20%. start with the wealthy, work with congress to do it. >> you guarantee this math? >> let's talk about the pressure that's on romney to try to give more specifics about how do you do that? what about that math? >> well, you know, there are a lot of numbers flying around, but the question really is very specific and easy to grasp.

sit mathematically possible to do the three things that romney says he's going do on his tax plan? not raise the deficit and not reduce the share of taxes paid by the wealthy. the tax policy center which is an independent nonpartisan group has looked at the number and said those three things cannot be done at the same time, because if you cut taxes by 2 , 20%--so romney still has to explain how all of this would all add up without assuming an elevated level of economic growth which the congressional budget office does not do when they calculate a tax plan. so there's still that question on him and he has not fully answered it. and again, if the math is wrong, i think you need more specifics about what deductions he would

remove to show that the math adds up with what he wants to do. >> this tuesday, the contenders square off, 7:00 p.m. eastern time is when our coverage begins and the debate will be moderated by cnn's candy crowley. because of its questionable voter registration tactics in florida, here's cnn's joe johns. >> he's a veteran gop operative who just doesn't seem to go away. just a few weeks ago a wave of bad publicity hit -- disavowed by the republican national committee but now some democrats who criticize his tactics say they're worried he may still be operating in several key battleground states under a different company name. it all started when florida election officials saw problems

with more than 100 voter registration forms, behind the registration, gop consultant nathan skrkscrull. the republican party had already giver scrull -- but it's not the end of the story, now the top democrat on the house government reform and oversight committee is asking questions including whether scrull has managed to keep doing business under a different company name. >> then we want to look at the various contracts, i want to see the contracts that he has with his various agencies and what he is contracted to do. >> john spicer of the republican national committee said they're doing business with scrull or

any of the his associates. american cross roads told cnn that it hired one of scr urkusc companies in 2010. congressman cummings asked scrull to sit down and make an explanation. scrull wants to keep this outside the realm of politics and that he continues to cooperate with florida officials what. do you think about the letter sent by the attorneys for nathan scrull? >> to me and to the members of our committee on the democratic side, we're very upset about it? >> why? >> it's very unusual for us to have someone we are investigating to say i am not going to cooperate with you, i'm not going to provide documents,

i will not appear. >> though scrull has not responded to our request for an interview, he has not talked -- here's what he said about the investigations in the florida case last week. >> what they will find is that our company had a systematic effort of quality control. when we found them, we fired them immediately. and we have a long paper trail to demonstrate that the people caught we -- >> democrats have complained about nathan sprull since the 2010 election. tonight, 8:00 eastern time, joe has a special report. it's called "voters in america, who counts." president obama's favorite word, what's mitt romney's best

joke. these are some of the offbeat but revealing questions readers digest asked each of the candidates as she sat down with them for an unconventional interview. i asked liz what was the most surprising thing she learned about each of the men running for president. >> i was surprised at the president, first of all we conducted the interview in the oval office. here he is at the apex of the world and he takes a half an hour out of his day and is so in the moment and was so revealing and warm and engaging and was will be to tell very revealing stories about his emotions. and milt romney, i thought he would be a little bit more stiff and guarded, while his answers were shorter, he would light up, whenever he talked about his family, his wife or his 18 grand children, there's a twinkle

there in the eye that you cannot fake, so that was prizing and interesting to me. >> you even asked him got, you know, what mission he would set forth and if he would be thinking about his grandchildren if he had to make a decision as president about whether the country should go to war. >> right. >> did you feel like that was something really close to his heart, that he would be thinking about his family, he would be thinking about his kids, the gravity of it all. >> i asked both men that president, i asked president obama what did you say to malia and sasha the night that osama bin laden was killed. he answered that he r his children understood what the families of the victims had gong through and he was able to turn that experiencing towards the families. when i talked to government romney, i said how would you

explain the role of the president, you have to kill people as president. how do you explain that to your grandchildren. >> it's a very high bar before you make that decision. so his answer was a little less personal than president obama's. >> you pent into this interview, you revealed to them that this is going to be less about policy and issues and your platform and more about who you are as an individual. and both were, you know, he equally i guess eager to reveal themselves in that way. >> they were and the questions, one question is a good example. i said reader's digest has a famous column about word power. president obama thought for a brief moment and said grace, he talked about life's graceful moments, the grace that we find within us and it was a lovely minute or two. and i asked governor romney what

his favorite word is, he didn't miss a beat, and he gave me a one worth answer. indominable. that just shows you there's a difference in the way they chose to answer that question. so i think it's an interesting juxtaposition when you hear the answer to the same question. >> in try to remember ory veal kind of the latest joke, i uld -- both of thome came up with some good material. >> i said laughter is the best medicine, what's your favorite joke and give it to me now. people can vote on whose is funniest joke number one is i walk skbod a campaign rally of supporters and i turned to my wife and i said, did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams that i would be running for public office and my wife turned

to me and said, honey, you were never in my wildst dreams. and joke number two, a 4-year-old walks into a room and there's a picture of the president on the wall. and his parents ask him do you know who he is and what he does? and the child says, he approves this message. if you want to guess which candidate told which joke, you need to go to rd.com. a u.s. marine surprises his wife and kids in a homecoming that has gone viral. we'll show you what makes this video so special.

a u.s. marine givers his family a huge surprise, after being overseas for about a year, he appears on a jumbo screen. so that was a wonderful surprise in and of itself. then it gets better. and that's why it's gone viral. just watch. so there he is, in person from the screen to real life on the ground, that was a beautiful homecoming and not a dry eye in the house. so how would you like to buy piece of mars or a clunging of the moon, you can as we speak. josh healevs is here to tell usl about it. take a look at some of these pictures, one of them, they're beginning at about $340.

that moon is split in half so you can see "the matrix" inside. the largest piece of moon ever auctioned. let's take a look at this next one, this year is also up for auction and they're taking at least $65,000 the most complete slice of the the largest meteor rite in the world. that one looks like the screen and another one looks like a machblgt take a look at how it came out. look at that, so if you happen to have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around you malgt be taking part in that auction. >> the new fishing license for the sky. there are people who go around collecting these things. the more normal kinds of meteor rites that people find. there's basically new laws, no rules about this, they can only

be collected on certain public langds but not on some others. individuals are limited to what can easily be hand carried, up to a maximum of 10 pounds a year, you cannot use motorized devices to pick them up. >> a big meteor shower is expected. >> this is so cool. orion meteor shower is expected, there will be at the height, 25 meteors per hour. so if you get up really early on the 2 1s. the idea behind this one, it's not one of the strongest immediate your showers but it's one of the most beautiful. because it's framed as nasa puts it. i'm putting aline how cnn.com about how you can best see

these. >> so you have a better chance of seeing it if you're out in the rural area. >> come people flock to certain areas where there is a good deal. >> thanks so much, josh. we love it, thank you. all right, now, another story that's generating a whole of the of buzz, the recently released photos of vice presidential candidate paul ryan working out. jeany moose hit the road. >> this is paul ryan, republican. >> oh. >> is that him? >> no, no, that's worse, that's like oh, no. >> oh, yes and photos of paul ryan working out that came out and plemt of fans -- and the internet melts. >> he looks fine. >> his knees are a little bony. >> noted one, bick bird calls,

he wants his legs back. paul rye yang is definitely channeling his inner markey mark. just as markey mark pumped iron, so did paul ryan in a photo shoot almost a year ago when the fitness buff congressman was a runner up for time's person of the year. some say by releasing the old photos around times of the vice presidential debate, the editors of time wish to make him look trivial, young and unserious. maybe it's the backwards baseball cap, but when we took the photos out to the street -- >> i have no clue who that is. >> not at all. >> 2/3 of the people we asked didn't recognize him. >> that's mr. shoochuster, matt morrison? >> jeff somebody? he's got a new talk show.

>> nah, not jeff probst. >> i think that's the vice president soon to be. >> reporter: the vp candidate's spokesman says this about the photos, paul ryan takes his health seriously. clearly by these pictures he doesn't take himself too seriously. they made him flex and even wink like a certain previous vp candidate. some wonder when are the joe kbiden workout photos coming. the bests we could do is drag outa famous photo shop dog of joe biden washing his transam in the white house driveway. >> this is the potential of the united states. >> oh, it is. >> i think it's a great look for

him. just like a regular old joe blow. okay, let's move on to some sports action, of the nhl has locked out it's play, but we'll hear how some local businesses in new jersey are the ones really feeling the pain. businee

susan candiotti takes us to a- >> newark's pru dental center -- the arena is awfully quiet these days. the nhl has locked out players, preventing the puck from dropping in the preseason and two weeks of the regular season so far. >> it's definitely gut wrenching. >> tom bloom runs ed dissoon ale house, a bar and restaurant right krothsz from the brew ten da daal -- business could drop 35%

this month and up to 45% if the lockout continues. >> if the devils were playing on a tuesday night as opposed to a nonevent night, we're talking got a 782% spring. >> they already lost their nba team, the former new jersey now brooklyn nets, this hotel that opened last month, will help revitalize the area, but the -- turning a profit could be devilishly difficult. >> you say it doesn't feel good is an understatement. >> businesses hope the

resolution comes quickly. >> new jersey senators are urging both sides to come to an agreement and fast. they notice the stoppage could mean millions in lost revenue at a time when the state's unemployment rate is at a 30-year high. susan cann susan candiotti, cnn new york. and he did it felix baumgartner landed on his feet after his record break jump from space. we'll have more on his accomplishments at the top of the hour. [ music playing, children laughing ]

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